The Ivory Workers of the Middle AgesCust, Anna Maria Elizabeth
History
The Ivory Workers of the Middle Ages
Cust, Anna Maria Elizabeth
Ivories -- History; Ivories, Medieval
Two upright pieces of slightly varying width, on a book cover in
the Munich Library, represent a consul in the act of walking to his
right, and carrying what is probably a congratulatory address to the
Emperor, his hands being religiously veiled. Above and behind him is an
Imperial Guard, with large shield and spear, his robe embroidered on
the shoulders, and his neck encircled by a collar from whence hangs a
bulla, just as we see them on the mosaic in St. Vitale at Ravenna.
The narrower piece has a rigidly vertical design. Below is the full
face figure of a man holding a long staff, and above, the upper portion
of a figure of Victory, holding up over her head a wreath containing a
bust of the Emperor, the exact enlargement of those Victories which so
often stand on the arms of the curule chair (No. 17).
Meyer considers that these two unequal pieces formed the two sides,
but the complete want of balance in the composition makes Molinier’s
opinion that they both formed the right side the more probable. This
increases the number of pieces to seven, but the Victory having no
border may have been sawn off the central plaque. On the other hand,
in the five-piece panel at Ravenna (Fig. 10), the central plaque is
divided horizontally by a beading, if not in two separate pieces. If
we consider that these two pieces formed the right side, and multiply
their combined width for the left side, and then compare the total of
the two sides with the width of the horizontal strips, there is still
ample space for a central plaque representing the Emperor.
Meyer adds to the list of diptychs the celebrated five-piece tablet
in the Barbarini Library at Rome. The upper and lower strips are of
exactly the same character, and in the central plaque the Emperor
(probably Constantine the Great) is seen on a rearing horse, under
whose feet is a woman with her lap full of fruit, who personifies
some conquered country. In the left piece is the figure of a
soldier bringing a Victory, and the other side, which should have a
representation like the Munich Consul, is lost.
Molinier emphatically declares this could not have been a consular
diptych, as there is no trace of inscription; but suggests that it was
the cover of a book intended for the Emperor.
There is one more diptych in exceedingly high relief, which may
possibly be classed among the consular series, the date and subject of
which is still a matter of much discussion. One leaf is in the Bargello
at Florence (Fig. 5), and the other in the Vienna Museum (No. 57).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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